2017 BC Assessment values now available online

Wondering how much your property value has changed over the past year? That information is now available online from BC Assessments, which estimates the value of your home and others in your neighbourhood.

All property owners in the province will be receiving an official letter in the mail next month. BC Assessment’s online data base is usually updated on January 2, but this year the information was available a few days early.

Early warning letters have already been distributed to those properties that will see a higher than average assessment value, and BC Assessment says the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, Victoria and the Okanagan can all expect increases of 10-20 per cent for a detached single family home.

For any homeowners in Northern B.C. and the Cariboo region impacted by summer wildfires that haven’t already contacted BC Assessment, you are encouraged to do so.

“Over the past few months, we have been identifying and reviewing the property damage that occurred from the wildfires this past summer,” says Jarret Krantz, Deputy Assessor for Northern BC. “We have been focused on ensuring the current property conditions are used to determine 2018 property assessments.”

The company also says it has identified all impacted properties in the Thompson Okanagan region and made the necessary adjustments to those assessments.

“We also want to remind property owners that all 2018 assessment notices will be delivered in early January. We recognize the difficult situation that property owners have been in, and we want to work with you to ensure your property assessment is accurate because property assessments are used to determine your property taxes,” says Tracy Wall, Deputy Assessor for the Thompson Okanagan region.

“If anyone impacted by the wildfires, upon receiving the notices, feels that your assessment has not been adjusted appropriately, then you are urged to contact us to discuss the matter before January 31.”

Nearly 70,000 property owners received an early-warning letter in December. That is down from 82,000 letters sent out last year.